Chirp~, chirp~, chirp~.
The gentle sound of birdsong echoed faintly... as sunlight slipped through the broken and cracked wall of the apartment complex...
"Uhm..."
The morning's warmth inched closer, and closer to the young man sleeping on the dusty floor of the ruined apartment... before finally brushing against his visage.
"Ugh..."
The young man winced as his eyes were pricked by the light.
"Five more minutes, please..." he muttered groggily before sinking back into his fragile slumber...
"Good grief... how long are you going to sleep, mortal?"
"...Huh?"
A familiar voice—a voice he had just recently grown aware of—whispered into his ears...
But that wasn't all.
He could feel a weight pressing against his body.
It wasn't heavy enough to hurt his chest, but instead... it was—
Soft.
Something soft was resting on him... and he would not lie—
It felt quite pleasant.
Thus... he was compelled to open his eyes slowly...
And the first thing that greeted him... was the face of a woman.
A beautiful woman lying atop him, gazing down at him with her scarlet red eyes.
"Finally awake?" the woman teased with a small, knowing smile as she leaned closer, pressing herself against him ever so slightly...
Noah Winters stared back at the smiling woman... as his eyes slowly trailed downward—until they stopped at the soft, plush sensation pressing against his chest...
"Wha—wait—what the hell—?!"
"Ah—?! H-Hey!"
Noah suddenly jolted up in panic, backing away and kicking up dust and debris!
"Honestly, why are you in such a panic, mortal?"
It took a moment for Noah to calm both his breath and his innocent heart, staring back at the 'strange' woman who now pouted at him in mild annoyance...
Who was also floating in mid-air, as expected of a 'ghost.'
"...E-Evangeline...?"
"Yes! It is I—the Great Spirit Evangeline~!"
Her proud declaration was met with a blank, deadpan stare. His mind, though, was still reeling—trying to piece everything together...
But eventually, realization dawned on him—
"...It wasn't a dream, huh..."
He glanced around at his apartment... or whatever was left of it, at least. It was a wonder his apartment hadn't collapsed entirely from how little structure was left.
He stood up from the floor, brushing off the dust before slowly walking toward what remained of the outer wall, with Evangeline floating after him curiously.
"Hmm... this is something else," he muttered, both in disbelief and exasperation, as his eyes wandered to the outside world beyond his ruined apartment.
And, of course... it was quite rowdy.
On the ground level below, people had already gathered on the street.
"What happened here?"
"Did something happen to the apartment?"
"I heard an explosion last night..."
"A gas leak? No way... right?"
"Wait—wasn't this apartment supposed to be haunted...?! Did the evil spirit wake up or something...?!"
The crowd grew restless as their murmurs and speculation turned wilder over the mysterious destruction of the old, haunted apartment complex...!
But, eventually... a few of them looked up—
"Wait... there's someone up there!"
Their eyes widened in shock as they spotted Noah standing near the exposed wall!
"R-really?! I thought no one lived there anymore..."
"Don't tell me... is that the evil spirit?!"
The commotion below quickly turned into a frenzy, voices overlapping with fear and curiosity as they pointed and shouted—convinced they had just seen a ghost...!
Noah blinked in disbelief, startled by the sudden attention, and quickly backed away from the edge.
"You mortals sure are rowdy," Evangeline remarked with amusement.
However, Noah wasn't exactly amused by the attention, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to ease the incoming headache.
"For fuck's sake..." he muttered in frustration, "how the hell am I gonna fix this shit...?"
"Are you still worrying about that getting this 'sued' thing?" she asked with a teasing smile—though there was a hint of concern in her tone. "I told you I'd help you fix this place, had I not?"
"...Yeah, you did, but could your ghost powers miraculously fix an entire apartment back to its original shape?"
"...Unfortunately, no."
"Sigh... go figure."
An awkward silence lingered between them...
Until—
Ring~ Ring~ Ring~
...A strange-yet-familiar sound echoed from beneath a nearby debris...!
"Wait... I know that ringtone..." Noah muttered in disbelief as realization slowly coming to him...
He approached the pile, before then crouching down and sifting through the rubble and found—
"It's my phone!"
His smartphone—dirty with a slight cracked screen, but, miraculously... still intact!
"Whew...! What a relief..."
"Hmm... isn't that one of you mortals' weird tools?" Evangeline tilted her head, floating closer with curiosity. "I remember mortals before you being absolutely glued to those things. What's so special about it?"
"Ahaha, well, that's just how things are these days," he replied with an awkward laugh, wiping off the dust as he picked it up—
Only for his expression to immediately freeze upon reading the notification!
"Ah... shit—!"
[ORIENTATION DAY!!!]
"—It's today, isn't it?!"
"W-wha—?!"
He jumped to his feet in panic, causing Evangeline to flinch from the sudden outburst!
"W-what's wrong, mortal?! Why are you suddenly panicking?!"
"I almost forgot!" He looked back at Evangeline with a face full of dread. "Today's my college orientation!"
"'College orientation'...? What is that...?"
But Noah ignored her entirely, already rushing toward what was left of his wardrobe.
"Where is it—where are my clothes—ah, there they are!"
He hastily changed out of his tattered outfit while Evangeline could only watch in bewilderment at his frantic movements.
After managing to change into a (relatively) fresh set of clothes—
"Welp... I'm off to college!" he declared confidently, stepping over the ruined door frame of his destroyed apartment's entrance!
"H-Hold on, mortal! What about fixing this place?!" she yelled, floating after him in disbelief. "Didn't you say you'd be in trouble if you didn't fix this property?!"
"Sorry! That can wait! The first day of college is way more important than that!" he shouted back, rushing down the half-broken stairs. "My college debut's gotta be flawless!"
"Huh...? What are you mortals even on about...?"
"Don't worry—I won't run away! I made a promise after all! So I'll see you later~!"
"Ah! W-wait! Mortal!!"
By the time he reached the ground floor, Noah was already sprinting out of the ruined complex in a vain attempt to reach his campus—
But—
"Mortal! I implore you to stop already!"
"...Huh?"
Evangeline's voice finally halted him. Turning around, he found the ghostly woman following right behind him—floating just above the pavement with a rather annoyed pout.
"You idiot mortal! Honestly!"
"...Wait, why are you following me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Aren't you supposed to be, like... bound to that apartment?"
Evangeline crossed her arms, glaring at him.
"Truly... have you not noticed yet, mortal?"
She then gestured toward her bosom—no, the center of her chest—where a faint, glowing chain of spiritual energy pulsed... one that extended and connected directly to his own chest!
"...I am now bound to you, mortal."
"... ... ...What?"